Pedaling For A Cause

6/13/2016 (Permalink)

Christine (in pink) and two other riders that teamed up to keep each other company during the long ride.

There are people who exercise with the intent to compete against others and there are people who exercise to stay in shape and then there is a small fraction of society who exercises with others in mind. That would be SERVPRO of Kennett Square/Oxford’s CFO Christine Trumbull.

In 2013 Christine was over weight, out of shape and could barely climb a flight of stairs without getting winded. She suffered from heart palpitations, was pre-diabetic, had horrible stomach issues, nightly edema and couldn't even tie her own shoes. 

Then her father died and her aunt began a fight against pancreatic cancer and Christine new that she had to do something or life was going to be very short.

She began with a 10 minute workout video that she was sure, “was going to cause a heart attack” but stuck with it and worked to change her diet.

It was working and the weight was coming off as her stamina increasing until one morning in January 2014, she saw an ad for the Inaugural Ride to Conquer Cancer and said to herself, “I have to do that. Doesn’t matter that I don’t have a bike, I can buy one.” And she did, in May of that year, and started training.

Her aunt continued to decline and passed in July.  According to Christine, she cried for the month of August then got back on the bike in September and continued to train. In October Christine completed that inaugural ride from Philadelphia to Allentown which is basically 75 miles up hill. The weather was terrible. It was cold and rainy but she finished and single handedly raised $6000 for the cause.

Over the years Christine has invested countless hours into riding to raise money for things near and dear to her heart not the least of which is Diabetes.

Christine’s son Matthew 18, was diagnosed at the age of 6 with type 1 diabetes. Since that day their lives have revolved around the various doctor’s appointments that go with diabetes not to mention the mental, emotional and financial toll on the family.

The latest of her rides was 100 miles to the Chesapeake Bay in May of 2016 for the American Diabetes Association.  She initially pledged to raise $1000 but as time went on she kept meeting her fundraising goals and increasing them with her final tally coming in at $3,303. Out of more than 450 individual riders and teams Christine was #8 overall for fundraising!

The day of the ride was miserable, it was raining and the wind was in her face nearly the entire ride but Christine never gave up.  She completed all 100 miles and has now signed up to do 150 in the fall.

SERVPRO of Kennett Square/Oxford is grateful to have someone so capable and dedicated at the helm helping to drive us toward improving our skills and service the way she pushes herself.